Ok, so I went on a field trip with my ds (8)...

[zakatak]

And afterwards we stopped at the park with all the other 2nd graders to eat lunch and play. OMG... their lunches. Only 3 kids (mine plus 2 others) out of 19 had whole wheat bread. The rest had white bread. Most kids had sweets (packaged brownies, cookies, pies, cakes, etc...) which they ate instead of the sandwich. Most had punches with dyes instead of 100% juice. THEN... what I threw out! Whole sandwiches, drinks with 2 sips taken, crackers, candy, etc... One girl had a reese's cup and punch for lunch. That was it. Another kid brought chips/salsa boxed lunch. That was it. Another one brought that same kind of boxed thing with meat/cheese and crackers. How processed does that have to be so you don't have to refrigerate meat & cheese?

How can we expect these kids to grow up healthy unless we start them off being healthy? Just little things: NO candy/brownies, etc... in lunches (maybe a granola bar). WW bread (trash the white bread). 100% juice instead of dyed High Fructose Corn Sugar crap... and FRUIT in the lunches.

It was sad what was IN the lunches and what was thrown OUT.

 

[Rhonda]

It is sad to see the patterns that the parents are helping the children develop at that age. Those lunches sound like what I used to eat when I was little - no wonder I'm here today!

 

[disykat]

One thing that might make you feel better is that many parents send "special" lunches for field trips. While you will see a lot of junk eaten (or not eaten) in the lunchroom, you see even more on field trips.

 

[HappyMommy2]

I agree with you--white bread and sugar, sugar, sugar don't do much to help kids' little bodies grow up healthy and strong!

Disykat is right, though; hopefully at least SOME of your DS classmates eat a bit healthier most days. I know my mom used to pack us reasonably healthy lunches (or we ate the cafeteria lunch) on regular schooldays but we always got a special treat (maybe Pringles, a Snickers bar, Capri Sun, or whatever) on field trip days.

 

[Christine]

I know that when I pack my son's lunch for a field trip, it is not the best. Most of the time when the class goes for a field trip they tell us "no lunchboxes, only bagged lunches." They will put the lunches in a cooler but they do not have ice. Since my son cannot eat peanut butter, there is very little that he can take that will withstand room temperature or "bus" temperature. So sometimes the Lunchables are the safest thing to bring because they can sit for long periods without refrigeration.

As for juices, sugar is sugar is sugar and I think it's been said that even plain apple juice can be detrimental to weight gain and cavities. How about a bottle of water?

 

[disboo]

I run a summer camp for elementary school aged children, and I see the same thing. We request parents to send in healthy lunches, and tell them that we will forbid soda and candy until after lunch, but the stuff that comes in is ridiculous.

And even worse, some kids will come in with something like gatorade and chips for breakfast! I have taken to talking to parents and asking them to send something better. We serve a breakfat snack - cereal (no marshmallows!!!), 2% milk and real OJ and AJ.

(I never had chips in my lunch as a kid. Carrots, sandwich, apple, maybe a cookie (not every day!) and I had to buy milk. That was it!)

 

[aprincessmom]

I agree with disykat...DD typically eats a really heathly lunch but I use the field trip lunch (two times a year) to send her with stuff a bit more "fun" mostly because we are asked to send things that don't need refridgeration (since the lunches sit on the bus in a big box while the kids tour) and you have to be able to throw the entire lunch out (including the bag).

On a field trip day DD will get a pb&j, one of those granola bars which is basically a candy bar masquerading as something "healthy", an apple, a bottle of water and a bag of chips. Outside of the water and apple, that isn't something she'd normally get.

FYI...juice of any kind, even the 100% juice, is empty calories for a child. Water or milk are the best choices if you are concerned about how many calories/sugar your child is eating. If you want them to have juice, let them eat the fruit as they'll not only get juice but the fiber as well.

 

[zurgswife]

Boy do I feel like a horrible parent....my kids will only eat White Bread, I usually send in cookies, brownies as a snack. My kids have always been picky eaters.....no veggies, very few friuts,

I figure there tastes will mature...like mine did.

I would serve wheat bread but it would just be thrown out...so eating a little something (yeah it's only peanut butter and jellly) on white is better then nothing...

While my kids eat junk food they don't eat that much food so I figure sub par is better then none..

 

[wovenwonder]

I feel for you Kim. My family is a 'white bread ONLY' family too. BUT, I think I pulled one over on them...... There is a store brand bread in our area [Weis] that is very High Fiber Lite bread and it comes in white and wheat varieties. Even the white bread is higher in fiber than usual whole wheat bread. They even have high fiber English Muffins. Store it in a tupperware container and they'll never know it is healthy bread. Using natural peanut butter and no sugar added jelly even makes it a little healthier than the traditional pbj on white.

 

[catherine]

Here in the Uk we have Hovis Best of Both. It's white bread with all the goodness of wholemeal. It's also free from all preservatives and flavourings. My DD's love it, and so do DH and I I've not found it too difficult to provide my DD's with healthy school lunches, that they will eat. I also try to give them the same type of food if they are going on a school trip, but sometimes that is difficult as you have to take other things into consideration, like aprincessmom mentioned.

 

[Otto's Doll]

One way to help keep those lunches cold is to freeze water bottles the night before, then pack the lunch in a PLASTIC bag and the water bottle will be melted by the time lunch comes, so they can have a cold drink as well. (I do this because my DS loves Tuna, but boy is that hard to keep cold for a field trip. I usually send a few of these frozen water bottles, cause for sure someone will be willing to take one off of his hands.)
I do send lunchables for my DD if she goes on a field trip.